


Stay

by ghibliterritory



Category: IT (2017)
Genre: (?), Angst, Eddie messed up and he wants to fix it, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 18:04:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13059276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghibliterritory/pseuds/ghibliterritory
Summary: It's been two weeks, and Eddie can't handle it anymore.





	Stay

Two weeks. Eddie hadn’t seen Richie in two whole weeks. 14 days. 336 hours. 20160 minutes. 20161, actually. Eddie stared at the clock of his kitchen with little interest and mostly guilt, half-heartedly chewing on his fork a little bit. Whatever food that was on it earlier was gone, but he didn’t really _care_ like he should. His mind was still on Richie. On how long it had been since he saw him. The last thing he’d said.

_“You guys wanna get off on making fun of me, **fine**.” Richie had snarled. “Go and be dicks together. Laugh it up. Hope it makes your days better, Eddie.”_

The conversation prior had been almost forgotten. But, he knew that it hurt them both. Richie confronting him with such venom in his words. Eddie giving him any reason to confront him. Why would he not notice how much he’d hurt him like that? They were fucking boyfriends. Yeah, they didn’t always get along, but still… He never thought that making fun of him was that amusing. Stan did. Still…

There had been a lot of talk after that. Not with Richie. But with the others, telling them what happened and feeling so bad. Beverly kept a hand on his shoulder and promised that they would fix it. They had to fix it. Richie was their friend, they cared.

Funny way of showing it, huh?

20162\. Eddie’s eyes followed the second hand as it moved around the clock, his brow beginning to furrow. It was dawning on him that he couldn’t keep letting this go on. The gang could only fix it if Richie showed up again. Hard emphasis on if. 20163. And even if they did fix it, there was still their relationship to consider. If Eddie had hurt him that bad, and they didn’t talk for this long, what did that mean for them? 20164. He had to do something. He had to find him, find the words. 20165.

Eddie stood up from the dinner table, looking down at a discarded plate of salad. He didn’t care. He wasn’t hungry. He went and swiped his coat off the hanger, slipping it on his person.

“Eddie,” the chilling voice of his mother sounded from the living room, and he refused to look. “It’s almost nine. Where are you going?”

“Out.” He muttered. “I have someone I need to talk to.” At least he didn’t lie. Eddie didn’t wait to hear his mother speak again before he opened the door and left, speed walking down the stairs of his porch and onto the sidewalk. There was only two places Richie could be. One, the only club in Derry that he liked to sneak into sometimes, and two, the radio station he worked at. It was a Thursday night, close to nine. That meant the radio station. And it meant that Richie would be getting off really soon. The timing was perfect. So, Eddie made his way down the street, forgetting his bike (he’d grown too big for it anyway) and focusing on anything but the cold hitting his cheeks. Damn November.

It took a little bit long to get there- Derry was small, but there was still distance between his house and the main part of town. It was rather empty this Thursday night, street lights flickering and mostly just drunks wandering around. Eddie ignored them skillfully as the bright, neon sign of ‘Derry Radio’ lead his way. He stepped into the parking lot, hand shoved in his coat pockets. The lights inside were on, and Richie’s car was still great. He held his breath, pausing to try and piece together how it was gonna go- when a dark figure exited the station. What Eddie could see of his was curl on top of it’s head, and a glare from the sign on it’s glasses.

“Richie.” Eddie nervously called out, not even realizing he’d done it until the figure- Richie- turned to look at him. He still couldn’t see him- his face, or his clothes. But from the way that Richie turned on his heel and started towards his car without a word, he could tell this wasn’t going to be easy. Eddie sighed and started to follow him. “Richie-” He struggled, finding his walk longer than the other’s. “Richie, wait- come on-” God, what was he gonna do? Richie wasn’t stopping. “Richie! Stop, please, just let me talk!”

That seemed to get Richie’s attention. He didn’t turn to look at Eddie, and he didn’t say anything. But he didn’t move. He stood right next to his car door, hand ready to open it. Eddie too a breath. Damn, Richie could walk fast. There was a pause where he tried to find the words, and when none came to him, he cursed.

“I… I’m sorry.” He said at last, lingering on the dead air that followed. “That’s the best place to start. I’m sorry. I know that you’re upset, and… and I don’t blame you. You have a right to be.”

More silence followed. Neither of them moved, but Eddie swore he could see Richie’s fingers clench on the door handle. “I didn’t realize that this… This hurt you. Which is really dumb for me not to notice, but I always thought it was just joking around. You know I would never… I’d never treat you like that, if I knew earlier. And I shouldn’t have treated you like that even then.” The words felt awkward, like shoving together puzzle pieces that didn’t fit. He could tell it wasn’t helping. A weight dropped in his chest. The front of his head started to hurt.

“The truth is, Richie… I miss you.” Eddie said. “I miss talking to you. I may tell you to shut up sometimes but I could heard you talk for hours. And I don’t… I…” He took a shaky breath. Fuck. “I don’t want this… Bullshit, this stupid thing, to stop what we have. To stop us.” Eddie’s voice started to falter. Tears welled. _Fuck_. “And I know, I know you have _no_ right to forgive me. Or any of us. We have been absolute assholes to you. But, Richie, I love you… I-I love you, okay? And I don’t deserve the love you give me, because I haven’t shown you any thanks for it, but I love you _so much_.”

Tears really started to pour now, one by one dripping down his cheeks and making them sting with the sudden warmth on his cold skin. He shut his eyes tight. “I want to fix this, Richie. I-I really do.”

The words didn’t feel foreign on his tongue. He wished that he could say that they did. But they felt right. Silence surrounded them once again, and Eddie suppressed a hiccup, trying to calm himself down. He didn’t even hear the other moving, coming forward and leaning down. It wasn’t until Eddie could feel their noses bump and their lips meet that he even realized Richie had come over to him.

The moment was rounded out perfectly by the two of them sharing a sweet, relieving kiss. Eddie could taste tears on his lips, but he knew they weren’t his. They were Richie’s, and he could tell when his hand went up to cup his cheek and he could feel the wetness of them. It hurt. But it made him feel less embarrassed about crying. Eventually, the two parted, and looked at each other with glossy eyes. Richie looked dead serious for once in his life.

“You’re lucky I missed you too, Eddie, or I wouldn’t have stuck around.” He told him. But, a smile crept onto his face, and he pressed their foreheads together. “I forgive you.”

Eddie had never felt so relieved in his life. He leaned up to peck his lips softly, grinning. “Thank God. I was worried I was gonna have to jump through hoops for that.” He admitted. He reached out and took Richie’s free hand. “I really did miss you, Rich.”

“Aw, you missed me.” Richie teased, snickering. “Never thought I’d hear that.”

“Whatever.” Eddie said softly, sweetly. “Why don’t we go get some makeup dinner? My treat.”

Richie considered this before nodding, and the two made way to his car, driving off and feeling much better about the situation. Eddie’s eyes didn’t leave him for the whole time. This was pretty perfect.

The mental clock in his head tracked back. It had been 0 seconds since he last saw Richie. And he wanted to keep it that way.


End file.
